Line-Up Changes Help Tornado, But Injury Bug Bites

Published on October 7, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release


Texas Tornado Head Coach Tony Curtale said he hasn't made many moves in past seasons. But after a 2- 2-3 start, the Texas Tornado head coach felt that changes needed to be made, especially in the goaltending department. So Curtale was quite busy last week, acquiring three impact players in separate trades in an effort to give his roster a boost. "I felt we had outplayed every team we had played," Curtale said. "We had an issue with goaltending, but I felt good with how we'd been playing. We just weren't getting results.- The initial aftereffects can't be argued with. The Tornado spoiled Topeka's home- opening weekend with a sweep, edging the Roadrunners 3-2 in overtime Friday and claiming a 2-0 victory the next night. Curtale's biggest acquisition was goaltender #31 Jimmy Kruger, who was attained from Alexandria in a trade that happened on Friday. Kruger's debut in a Tornado sweater couldn't have gone better, as he stopped all 20 shots he faced for his first NAHL shutout the next day. "He had an excellent Minnesota high school career, and he's big and pretty athletic," Curtale said of Kruger. "We hope he can continue on the line of great goaltenders we've had here.-

Kruger wasn't the only player the Tornado picked up last week. Forwards #8 Nathan Sliwinski (from Wenatchee) and #14 Josh Royston (Kenai River) are a couple of 1990-born veterans who combined to rack up 31 goals in the NAHL last season. Royston scored Saturday's first goal almost eight minutes in before Jack Prince cemented the outcome with a tally late in the third period.

Rigatti and Howard sidelined with injuries

Texas Tornado Head Coach Tony Curtale announced that team captain #21 David Rigatti and assistant captain #22 J.D. Howard, both forwards, were injured in Saturday's 2-0 win over Topeka and will be out an extended period of time. Both are expected to miss 4-6 weeks, Rigatti with a lower-body injury and Howard with an upper-body injury.

Amarillo makes first appearance in Frisco on Friday

The Amarillo Bulls (7-1-1, 15 pts.), who currently sit in a tie for 1st place in the N HL's South Division, make their first ever appearance in Frisco on Friday, October 8th as they take on the Texas Tornado (4-2-3, 11 pts.) at 7:30pm at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco. Both teams are coming off weekend sweeps last weekend. The Bulls swept the New Mexico Mustangs at home and the Tornado swept the Topeka Roadrunners in Topeka. This will be the second meeting of the year between Texas and Amarillo. Back on September 24th , the Tornado made a trip to Amarillo to face the Bulls for their inaugural home opening game. The Bulls defeated the Texas Tornado in a shootout by a score of 1-0. The Tornado will travel to Amarillo on Saturday, October 9th for the back end game of this weekend's home-and-home series.

NAPHL Texas Tornado U18 and U16 head to San Jose

The Texas Tornado U18 and U16 teams, both members of the North American Prospects Hockey League, will both travel to San Jose, California for the NAPHL West event at Sharks Ice October 21-24. So far after five games played the U18 team, led by coach Tom Yockey is 1-4, and the U16 team, led by coach Tom Murphy is 2-3. Forward Chris Mochulsky leads the U18 in scoring with four points.

Next Five Games

Fri., Oct. 8, 7:30pm Amarillo Bulls @ Texas Tornado Dr Pepper Arena

Sat., Oct. 9, 7:05pm Texas Tornado @ Amarillo Bulls Amarillo Civic Center

Fri., Oct. 15, 7:30pm Texas Tornado @ New Mexico Mustangs Santa Ana Star Center

Sat., Oct. 16, 7:30pm Texas Tornado @ New Mexico Mustangs Santa Ana Star Center

Sat., Oct. 23, 7:05pm Texas Tornado @ Corpus Christi IceRays AmericanBank Center

*All Times are CDT

All games can be heard and watched live on the Tornado Hockey Network at: Nahl.fasthockey.com

Player of the Week

#19 Rock Einersen

The NAHL's leading scorer scored all three goals in a 3-2 overtime win on Friday in Topeka. The next night he assisted on a goal in a 2-0 win. For the season, Einersen leads the NAHL with 17 points in just nine games.

Leaders

Goals: 5 - Marty Sertich

Assists: 9 - Toby Petersen

Points: 13 - Toby Peterson

PIM'S: 29 - Crombeen

+/-:

+4 - Chris Conner

THE WEEK THAT WAS...

Saturday, October 2 - Texas Tornado 2 @ Topeka Roadrunners 0

Saturday's grudge match against Topeka and Texas started with Topeka applying most of the heat in the early going, but new Tornado goaltender Jim Kruger was unfazed early. It took Texas eight minutes, but they got on the board first as J.D. Howard danced out from the corner sending a shot in on 'Runners goaltender Rasmus Tirronen, which was saved, but the rebound bounced right to new Tornado forward Josh Royston, who buried it for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 Tornado lead. Both teams hit posts late in the period, but more saves from Kruger made the Tornado lead stand heading into the 1st period intermission.The 2nd period ended like the 1st period did, with the Tornado leading 1-0, but the period wasn't without its chances, mostly by Texas who outshot the Roadrunners 13-4 in the 2nd period. However, Tirronen was solid between the pipes, including three Tornado power plays in the period, which went unanswered. The best chance of the period for Texas came off the tape of newcomer Nate Sliwinski, who fired a shot high off a rolling puck on a broken play, which saw the net wide open. Kruger, when called upon, was solid again in goal keeping Topeka at bay through the first 40 minutes. The 3rd period was the Jim Kruger show as the newly signed goaltender shut the door on any remaining Roadrunners attempt, the best of which came late in the 3rd period, but a heads up flip pass by Rock Einersen to a wide open Jack Prince sent the forward in on a breakaway where he calmly beat Tirronen through the legs for a 2-0 Tornado lead. Kruger and the Tornado defense made the lead stand late in the game as Topeka had their goalie pulled and held on for the 2-0 shutout in his Tornado debut.

Friday, October 1 - Texas Tornado 3 @ Topeka Roadrunners 2 (OT)

On Friday, the Tornado traveled to Topeka for the Roadrunners home opener. Both teams had early power plays that they weren't able to convert on, but the Topeka struck first as Ryan White one-timed a slapshot from the low point that beat Texas Tornado goaltender Jake Stafford to the short side for a 1-0 Topeka lead. However, the Tornado would strike right back on a power play of their own as a shot from the point from Ralfs Freibergs was saved by Topeka goaltender Eric Rohrkemper, but Rock Einersen picked up the loose rebound and slammed it home from the side for his team-leading 7th goal of the season. The Tornado would outshoot Topeka 8-4 in the period. The 2nd period was a tight one defensively by both teams. The Tornado would outshoot the 'Runners 8-6 in the period, but neither team would find the back of the net thanks to both goaltenders. Tyler Mort had the best chance for the Tornado in the 2nd period, but he breakaway was spoiled by a pokecheck from Rohrkemper. Meanwhile, Stafford kept Topeka at bay late in the period with two pad saves on the backdoor on a Roadrunners power play. After another goal by Einersen to give the Tornado a 2-1 lead, Topeka would end up tying the game in the 3rd period on the power play, as a shot from the point was denied by Stafford, but the loose rebound was pounded home by Jordan Davis to tie the game at 2-2. The Tornado killed off two more penalties including a double minor as the game went into overtime. In the extra frame, it didn't take the Tornado long to turn up the offense as Jack Prince nearly missed on a chance.

The next rush up the ice Ralfs Freibergs found Rock Einersen down the right win. Einersen turned on the jets, moved around the Topeka defense, and slipped a shot past the blocker Rohrkemper for the game- winner in overtime and a hat-trick for Einersen. The OT win was the first for Texas in extra time this season. The Tornado had lost their previous three trips to overtime during the regular season, one in overtime and two in a shootout.

Team Leaders

Goals:

10 - Rock Einersen

Assists:

8 - Ralfs Freibergs

Points:

17 - Rock Einersen

Penalty Minutes:

69 - Mike Fleming

Plus/Minus:

+7 - David Rigatti

Goals Against Average:

1.00 - Jimmy Kruger

Save Percentage:

95.3% - Jimmy Kruger

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North American Hockey League Stories from October 7, 2010


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